The American Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute meeting was held today, and for the most part it wasn't good news for Amazon. When the representative from Macmillan stood up he received a standing ovation from the crowd (mostly independent booksellers). David Young, chief executive of Hachette USA, also spoke and said he "saw only a bleak future at $9.99". He also indicated that Hatchette would be adopting the agency model.

The only bright spot for Amazon, and Kindle owners, came from Madeline McIntosh, the President of Sales, Operations, and Digital for Random House. She pointed out that publishers "have no real experience at setting retail prices." She also revelaed that one of the reasons Random House had not been party to the iBook Store at launch was because of the pricing issues.

In regards to delayed releasing of ebooks, McIntosh said, "Our current policy is we release e-books at the same time as physical books," followed by "I haven't been convinced that it's good for the author or consumer to delay the release. My fear is that the consumer who has fully embraced the technology will buy another e-book that is available or lose interest altogether. What if I train the consumer that the best scenario is to get it free?"

I forgot to mention something. Madeline McIntosh had worked for Random House for 18 years, but a little less than two years ago she went to work for Amazon as their Director of Kindle Content Acquisition for Europe. Then at the end of last year Random House hired her back as President of Sales, Operations, and Digital. This might help to explain why Random House is sticking with Amazon.

Well, I think McIntosh brings up some very valid points. Many e-book readers have evinced their hatred of publishers and their willingness to procure e-books from other than reputable sources.

In this day and age, I just can't see why authors don't/can't sell the paper copies of their books through the regular channels, and distribute all electronic versions of their work themselves, thus reaping a larger profit in the process.

I forgot to mention something. Madeline McIntosh had worked for Random House for 18 years, but a little less than two years ago she went to work for Amazon as their Director of Kindle Content Acquisition for Europe. Then at the end of last year Random House hired her back as President of Sales, Operations, and Digital. This might help to explain why Random House is sticking with Amazon.

It speaks well of Random House that they have someone who understands the eBook market from the inside, so to speak.

When the representative from Macmillan stood up he received a standing ovation from the crowd (mostly independent booksellers). David Young, chief executive of Hachette USA, also spoke and said he "saw only a bleak future at $9.99". He also indicated that Hatchette would be adopting the agency model.

In this day and age, I just can't see why authors don't/can't sell the paper copies of their books through the regular channels, and distribute all electronic versions of their work themselves, thus reaping a larger profit in the process.

I feel the same way. Since they are doing the work to create the eBook and publicize the title anyway, what sort of additional investment would it be to buy a sufficient server, and keep all the money for themselves?

Well, I think McIntosh brings up some very valid points. Many e-book readers have evinced their hatred of publishers and their willingness to procure e-books from other than reputable sources.

In this day and age, I just can't see why authors don't/can't sell the paper copies of their books through the regular channels, and distribute all electronic versions of their work themselves, thus reaping a larger profit in the process.

For new works, sure, authors can negotiate for the rights to eWorks separate from paper works. For older/existing works?

Let's ask..hey.. Random House!:

Quote:

On Friday, Markus Dohle, chief executive of Random House, sent a letter to dozens of literary agents, writing that the company’s older agreements gave it “the exclusive right to publish in electronic book publishing formats.”